YELLOW AND ORANGE WILD FLOWERS 



are rather loose-textured, and the margins are fre- 

 quently slightly notched with low teeth. The flower 

 heads are few or solitary. The tiny disc florets are 

 densely packed in a purple brown, cone-shaped head, 

 that has a smooth, silky sheen when newly opened. 

 They are surrounded at the base with from ten to 

 twenty long, narrow, orange-yellow rays. They 

 are notched at the tips, and have two faint 

 parallel veins running their length. The flower 

 head is supported with an overlapping, triple-rowed, 

 green mat, which terminates the stem. They are 

 found in dry, open, sunny fields, from Canada to 

 Florida, Colorado, and Texas. 



COMMON SUNFLOWER. LARABELL 



Helidnthus annuus. Thistle Family. 



The Sunflowers are native to this country, and this 

 species is extensively cultivated in Russia, India, 

 Turkey, Egypt, Germany, Italy, France and China, 

 as well as here, for the production of fixed oil con- 

 tained in the seed. This oil is said to make an excel- 

 lent salad dressing and to be one of the best burning- 

 oils known. The stalk, when treated as is flax, yields 

 a long, fine fibre, which is said to be used in China 

 for the adulteration of silk. The Sunflower is believed 

 by some to ward off the effects of malarial fevers, and 

 in Caucasus malarial patients are wrapped in sheets 

 saturated with milk, and covered with the leaves of 

 this plant. The Pah Ute Indians are said to be very 

 fond of Sunflower seeds as food. The seeds are ped- 



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